Taco Rice Recipe

About a year ago I got wise and started packing up half of the taco meat I make every week and tucking it away in the freezer.  We never finish a whole pound of ground beef at one taco night meal. Leftovers would occasionally get forgotten in the fridge.  It hurts to throw out pricey grass-fed beef!

Left-over taco meat is generally used for another round of soft tacos, a crowd pleaser at our house.  Aside from the in-store made whole wheat tortillas from the big HEB, this meal is hearty and wholesome by way of lots of wholesome fresh vege toppers and the whole family digs it.  Sometimes meat reserves goes into quesadillas or loaded nachos.  In the Spring when we have lots of local lettuces available I serve it as taco salad.

Last week I needed a pinch hitter on a meeting night.  I had taco meet ferreted away in the freezer, but no tortillas or lettuce.  It was a week night, so I couldn't justify nachos for supper.  Taco soup was an option but it's already spring in Houston, and we've been having highs in the 80s....  Plenty of brown rice was in the pantry, and I had a few grape tomatoes getting wrinkly and stalks of celery in the fridge.  Taco rice??  Perfect.  It'll do in a pinch.

When the boys asked what's for supper, big boo was upset we weren't having tacos.   He pouted.  When he came to the table and gave it a shot he cleared his plate without complaint.  The crunchy celery really made this dish.  I might add more next time.  This recipe is a keeper.

Taco Rice Recipe
Half pound of pre-cooked taco meat seasoned with onion and make-it-yourself taco seasoning
One crushed dry thai pepper (I get these from a local farmer, use what ever pepper you have)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 ribs celery
18 grape tomatoes quartered, or one whole tomato diced
One cup dry brown rice, cooked
salt and pepper to taste (may not be necessary depending on your rice & taco meat seasoning)
celery leaves - chopped (frugal sub for parsley, has similar taste, lots of nutrients, don't toss celery leaves!)
half a lime
Toppers of your choic : shredded cheddar, sour cream, salsa, avocado

Directions
Cook rice according to directions.  Cook tomatoes and celery in a bit of healthy fat over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Add Thai pepper, stirring to combine.  Add cooked taco meat.  Add cooked rice and dry spices.  Remove from heat.  Stir in chopped celery leaves and squeeze half a lime over top.

Kid Appeal Tip  If your kids protest left-over night or new recipes, hear them out.  They may just want you to know, hey mom, I prefer recipe round one or the way we usually eat pasta.  Let them know that it's your job to feed the family dinner. Sometimes the meal is a crowd pleaser and sometimes the meal is sustenance to put to good use ingredients you have on hand.  As a busy parent who works, shuttles kids to activities, helps with homework, and handles the laundry, you can't live at the grocery store or in the kitchen and make every meal fantabulous.  By making good use of the ingredients you've already invested in you are allowing your family to have more budget to go to the movies or splurge for a new video game.  Kids are smart.  Tell them why you do left-overs and new concoctions. Let them know what it does for them, expect them to dig in, and they will. 

This post is participating in Nourishing Gourmet's Pennywise Platter and LifeAsMom's URS.

What do you do with left over taco meat?

Education + Vegetables = Veggiecation Review and Giveaway

 

This is a review of the nutrition education program called Veggiecation.  After you read the review, and my request for you to act as a nation builder, you will have an opportunity to win a copy of Veggiecation's At Home program including I tried it stickers and a vegetable recipe book.
 
Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver would be tickled pink if every public and private elementary school had Veggiecation, a nutrition education program designed for PK-3rd graders.

Veggiecation is a curriculum based nutrition education program that makes it easy peasy for teachers to get kids falling in love with vegetables.  The lessons are standards based meaning it can be seamlessly incorporated into math, literacy, social studies, science and art curricula.  The hardest thing a teacher has to do with this program is to decide which persuasive literacy, measurement, geography or vocabulary lessons to take out, in order to find time in the day use vegetables as a vehicle for building literacy, math and science skills.

student language arts work

Should Teachers Have to Teach Math, Literacy, Science and The Love of Vegetables?
In a perfect world, every parent would teach the love of vegetables at home.  Schools used to teach home economics, and there was usually one member in each household who'd had some amount of nutrition education.  Home cooked meals used to be the norm and cooking skills were passed down to sons and daughters. How can a parent teach nutrition education if they never received it in a school or from their parents?

Our world isn't perfect.  Our world is turning out high school seniors who are  have heart disease are obese, or worse, diabetic.  Teachers who want to be nation builders should be teaching the love of vegetables, even if it makes their job even more demanding than it already is.  Schools feed children.  They need to get it right.

Just as literacy and math skills set kids up for success in their adult life, so do good eating habits.  Teach a child to eat real food, and they will have the health to utilize all those great literacy and math skills they acquire in elementary school from every hard-working grade-school teacher across our great nation.

Veggiecation is a tool your school could be using to instill good eating habits with kids. It's time for parents, teachers, schools and communities to all do their part to grow a generation of good eaters.

The Good Stuff

students casting ballots

The posters are beautiful, the program is comprehensive.    Kids get excited about seeing the posters, writing and reading about vegetables.  The recipes are easy and appealing to families.  The recipes empower mom and dad to reinforce at home what kids are learning in school.  Students love tasting and casting their ballot with their liked it or didn't like it decision.

Most of all, kids respond when you teach them why real food is relevant to them.  Vegetables help students learn and grow into thinking healthy bigger people.  Kids want to be thinking healthy big people.  Their response?  Kids eating vegetables. Kids liking vegetables.  Veggiecation is not a silver bullet.  It may not win all students over to all vegetables.  I would be very surprised if every student did not adopt just one new vegetable tolerance after going through this program.

ginger asparagus in tasting cup

The Possibly Not Good Stuff
Not all schools have cooking facilities available for teachers or staff to use.  That could make the recipe preparation, tasting and ballot box activities inaccessible.  I believe there would still be value in the program even for a campus who couldn't cook at school.  They might need parent volunteers who were willing to bring in prepared food.  Or they might nix the food prep piece entirely and focus on writing about vegetables and making vegetable patterns and other curricula based activities. 

Some public school administrators might be wary of food allergies and food safety that comes along with feeding kids in the classroom.  This will be an obstacle for some public schools, but hopefully with the right parent support, these obstacles can be overcome, and the program can be implemented with careful planning.

Skeptical?  Try it out at home, or in your school and see how kids react.  Here's what teachers get with the program.


The Veggiecation School Package  - click here for more details

ballot box data

• Lesson Plans with more than 20 lessons for literacy (language arts), math, social studies, science and art.  Veggie games are included.  Think vegetable Memory and Bingo.
• Membership to Veggiecation.com - access more activities, tools, nutrition tips and recipes for home.
• Veggie of the Month Posters - The bright veggie characters brighten up the classroom and create a buzz around the campus.  They really get kids talking and thinking about veggies. 
• Audio CD with Veggiecation theme song and dance.  Perfect for Health Fitness, Pre-K and K.
• Recipe book with 36 vegetable of the month recipes.
• I Tried it Stickers - Kids love getting recognition for their choices.  When they try a veggie, they get to wear an I tried it sticker.  Studies show that interventions like tastings increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
• Decision Ballot Box - Empowering a student to make a decision on whether they like or don't like a food item, gives them something to focus on other than misleading negative thoughts they may have about vegetables.  Instead of thinking 'I don't like squash" they are thinking "i will decide if I like it or not."  Teachers get a voting box, and voting card so each student can cast a ballot.  Just think of all the graphing a class could do with the ballot box data!

Veggiecation has at home programs for Parents and After-School 
Parent Teacher Association or Organization groups may want to recommend an after-school enrichment program on their campus.  Parents and grandparents may want to buy the Veggiecation At-Home products to get more veggies down the hatch at the dinner table. 

Do a nation builder task today
If you watched President Obama's state of the union speech you were probably touched by his call for teachers to be nation builders.  Teachers aren't the only folks who can build our great nation.  You can too.  Send a link to this program to your PTA president, your child's teacher, your school's principal, director or head.  Take action to grow a generation of good eaters.  Ask that Veggiecation be incorporated into the 2011-2012 school year as the school wide theme.  Don't stop if all you hear are objections.  Come here and let me know what "No" you heard and I will help you turn that into a "Yes."

Enter to Win a Copy of Veggiecation At Home
Two readers will receive: 

• one recipe book with 36 kid friendly recipes, 
• 2 activity books (think vegetable coloring pages), 
• Audio CD theme song with lyrics, and dance video,
• 3 complete sets of "I tried it stickers"
• click here for more details

To qualify for a chance to win leave a comment, include your email address and answer the following question

What is one veggie your kiddo loves to eat and one veggie your kiddo won't touch with a ten foot pole?

For an additional chances to win,
1) like Veggiecation on Facebook and tell me you do/did so in the comments.
2) "like" me on Facebook and tell me you do/did so in the comment section.
3) subscribe to my email or become a reader and tell me you do/did so in the comment section.
4) follow me on twitter and tell me you do/did so in the comments.
5) share the Veggiecation URL or the URL to this review on your FB page and tell me you did so in the comments.

The fine print
Only separate comment entries will be counted for extra entries. If you want more than one chance, leave more than one comment. The contest closes at midnight March 2nd , 2011. I will draw a winner and notify the winner via email. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize by responding to the email. Your email address should be in this format:  jenna AT foodwithkidappeal DOT com. 

Disclosure
I am a paid sales consultant for Veggiecation.  I did not receive any free products to conduct this review.  The opinions here are my own, I was not compensated for the review.  I agreed to do the review before I was hired by Veggiecation.  Lisa at Veggiecation donated a school package to Sherwood Elementary as a prize to the Second Grade Teaching team for winning the Taste-Off Competition. 

How to Grow a Good Eater

Dear readers, this is a revision of my Food Tips 101 page.  I have added about 15 new links since the last revision, so there may be some new content you haven't read.  This is supposed to be a "welcome" page for new readers.  Let me know if you think I hit the mark with this round up and intro to Food with Kid Appeal.  In theory, it's a landing page for a new reader to see what this blog is all about and some "getting started" details.  Stay tuned for an "about me" revision.  This page can always be found by clicking the "introduction" tab under my blog header.

If you're here you probably have a feeding transition to make. You either believe your child is capable of tossing out the picky eater label and growing into a good eater or you're trying to shift from a take-out, meal-helper meal plan to one that includes scratch made meals from wholesome real food.

Now, where to start? It's a journey, so don't think you'll need to learn everything today.  I'm still learning how to grow good eaters and balance the food budget while still serving up tasty meals.  I'm still learning how to treat my soon-to-be five and seven year old boys like thinking people who are capable of choosing to fuel their body with wholesome real food.

I'm cooking for them now, but they eat at school and at parties.  Eventually they'll fly the nest and start cooking for themselves.  When that happens I want them to choose wholesome real food to buy and cook because it's what gives them energy to study or work or parent.

I'm on a mission to help America grow a healthy generation of kids.  If you find something useful while you're here, give me a hand.  Share the articles and recipes on this blog via your Facebook page, via email, on Twitter.  You can use the "share" buttons at the end of each post.

For healthy recipes with real kid appeal, head on over to view more than 100 recipes on my recipe index.

Mindset, Thoughts, Actions Matter
I wrote a series of posts about how to learn to like a food you think you hate during my three recovering picky eater challenges.  These articles are targeted at an adult.  If you figure out how to change your own mindset about food, you'll be capable of arming your child with a new mindset as well.  The recovering picky eater challenge is still ongoing.  Join anytime by reading this post and leaving a comment on the blog post.

Mindset:  How "good eater" mindset influences results  
Thoughts:  Bend your mind, like a new food
Actions:  Find a way to like a food you hate

Tactics
Sometimes it comes down to tactics.  Parents just need some actionable steps to take to get help get food down the hatch.  I get it.  Teaching kids what to eat isn't intuitive for every parent.  Thank goodness for the internet, you can learn anything!

#1 secret weapon to getting kids to try new foods
Taste buds change as kids age - empowering kids to try new foods once thought of as hated
how to get kids to try new food
how to get kids to drink more water
Eat like a dinosaur video
What to say when kids refuse foods
How I taught my kids to eat visible onion pieces
harmony at the dinner table with toddlers
the benefits of shopping for local food with your kids
building healthy habits at the farmer's market

What to do when.....
Sometimes readers write in with questions.  These questions often turn into full blog post answers.  Here is a round up of the Help! articles I've written.

Help! My kids won't eat soup
Help! My kids don't eat enough lunch at school.
Help! My child gags when he tries new foods.
Help! My husband won't eat his vegetables.
Help! My kids don't eat well at family gatherings or restaurants
Help! What should a constipated kid eat?


Kids in the cafeteria
If you've never eaten at school with your child, I recommend you do so.  You should know what the climate is like in the school cafeteria, and what constraints are your kids might be dealing with.  Knowing how lunch goes down will help you ensure they're getting adequate nutrition during school hours.

5 things your school age kid needs for breakfast and lunch
How to get your preschooler ready for school lunch
Help! My child doesn't eat enough school lunch, (this is one of the most popular pages on the FwKA blog)
Overcoming lunch box boredom
How to get kids to drink more water

Position Pieces
From time to time, I write an article defining where I stand on certain debatable issues. You may not agree with my positions.  I didn't always think they way I think now.  As I get more experience and collect more data, my positions will continue to evolve.  I continually ask myself, do the positions I hold enable or hinder me from growing good eaters?

Is letting kid decide what and how much to eat the right thing to do?
Kids in the kitchen, Joy or No Joy?

Baby Food Basics
It's been years since the baby food days for me. These posts share a bit about my feeding baby philosophy.  I rarely opened jars.  As a meal cooker, it didn't occur to me to feed baby any different.

Transitioning baby from spoon food to table food
Starting solid food with baby




Growing a Generation of Good Eaters
Help me in my mission!  If you like what you read here, share it using the Facebook,  email and twitter buttons below the post.   

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday

1000 Recovering Picky Eaters Needed Again

If you've been following FwKA since last Spring, you know about my 2010 campaign to find 1000 people willing to become recovering picky eaters.  In honor of some nutrition students and Jamie Oliver's upcoming Food Revolution series, I'm doing the challenge again.  In that post I wrote:

What is the biggest obstacle in the way of people choosing healthy food? Taste preference. I don't know anyone that doesn't want better health through food. But do you eat food you don't like? Didn't think so. So how do you develop a taste for wholesome food you don't like?  

A few weeks back, Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD and instructor for a Nutrition Intro class, wrote me and asked if the recovering picky eater challenge was still ongoing.  She wanted to have her students take the pledge as part of an assignment.  I let her know the challenge officially ended, but invited her students to go ahead and take the pledge.  Sally blogs at Real Mom Nutrition.  By sharing the recovering picky eater challenge with her students, she is empowering a new crop of nutrition students to lead their future patients to a healthier lifestyle by first changing their mindset.

How do you change your mind about liking a food?
First you have to change your mindset.  Your mindset has to become, I'm capable of learning to like new foods, instead of I'm a picky eater.  One your mindset has changed, your thoughts will change.  You will start thinking, I don't really like carrots raw, but they're decent cooked.  Once your thoughts about the hated food start changing your actions change too, I'm going to make carrots as a side dish this week.  Then as you're eating those carrots you've disdained your whole life you think, huh, these are actually not so bad,  I might try them raw next week.  After experimentation with some raw carrot recipes, a mindset change led to a change in results.  You used to avoid raw carrots, but now you've found a way to like them. 

I'm renewing my quest to find 1000 people who will pledge to learn to like a food they think they hate.  I assure you, it's addicting.  Once you learn to like a food you've avoided all your life, you'll want to see how many more walls you can break down.  You'll probably discover, you're not really a picky eater like you thought.  Picky eater becomes a discarded label that was responsible for decades of misconceptions about food.

In 2010 I found 113 people that signed up for the recovering picky eater pledge.  I missed the mark by a long shot.  Part of the problem was the widget I used from Change.org to track participants.  It required people to enter their address and send a letter in order to sign the pledge.  I suspect that was a big barrier for a lot of people to join in.  Another problem was my lack of PR savvy.  I'm still pretty blind when it comes to PR, but I've picked up a few tricks in the past nine months.  I went through press release writing 101 last week.  Might as well put my new skills to good use and write another one!

No excuses this time folks.  All you have to do is be willing to learn to like a new food and leave a comment on this blog post.

Will you Pledge to become a Recovering Picky Eater?
Are you with me?  Are you tired of saying "no tomatoes" to the waiter when ordering a side salad at a restaurant?  Are you ready to stop avoiding baked chicken because the bones creep you out?  Are you ready to embrace the mouth feel of raw crunchy carrots or nuts?  Is there a dish your spouse loves that you can stand because it contains onions or a feared vegetable from childhood?  If you are ready to leave your picky eater label behind, leave a comment on this blog post in this format:

Hi, I'm (your name). I pledge to learn to like (disliked food item) in the recovering picky eater challenge.

To leave a comment, scroll down to the bottom of this article, click the comment link that looks like this

Posted by jenna at 5:20 PM 0 comments

Join the Food Revolution
Wanna be part of the Food Revolution?  Tweet about the recovering picky eater challenge.  Blog about the challenge.  Post this URL on Facebook.  Email the URL for this post to your friends and family and ask them to do the challenge with you.  Send a story to all the media contacts you know.  Call me up and interview me on why I'm convinced that if people could dial up their preference for real, whole ingredients and dial down their taste for processed food that's chemically engineering to taste amazing their health would improve. 

If you're not convinced that mindset influences how you approach food (or how you view your kids' food preferences) read this article by Christina of the blog Spoonfed.  She talks about the dangers of the picky eater label.  Why not be done with your picky eater label and while you're at it, stop thinking of your kids that way too?

Stick Around
I'll be checking in with you pledge takers to see how your quest is going.  Subscribe to Food with Kid Appeal via email or blog reader so you can check in and let the gang know of your progress.


Calling All 2010 Pledge Takers
If you were one of the 113 pledges last year, pop in and say hello.  What's your eating life like now that you have a new mindset about food?

Sherwood Elementary Takes Bold Step To Help Students Adopt Healthy Eating Habits

School Undertakes Two School Food Pilots to  Reduce Sugar
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: JENNA PEPPER, SHERWOOD ELEMENTARY CAMPUS STUDENT HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER   jenna AT foodwithkidappeal DOT com

Sherwood Elementary School students had an opportunity to develop a taste for unsweetened menu items at breakfast and lunch during a two week pilot program.  The pilot removed popular sugared cereals, Cinnamon Toast Crunch (20g sugar per 2 oz), Raisin Bran Crunch (30g sugar per 2 oz) giving students a choice between Plain Cheerios (2g sugar per 2oz) and the hot meal. At lunch, student-favored chocolate milk was offered just 2 days a week, giving students a chance to develop a taste for unsweetened white milk three days a week. 

The breakfast pilot has been successful.  Participation did not decrease during the breakfast period even though student’s favorite breakfast cereals were not offered.  Spring Branch ISD Child Nutritional Services is considering offering only healthier low sugar breakfast cereal options district wide. 

The milk pilot demonstrated that when students are given an opportunity to adopt healthier eating habits, some students’ choices do change.  Typically, around 80 percent of students going through the lunch line at the 405 student school choose chocolate milk. The lunch pilot eliminated chocolate milk for two days. According to preliminary pilot data, after chocolate milk was again made available, the number of students who chose white milk increased by 32 percent.

Joseph Bolduc, a Sherwood first grader and usual chocolate milk drinker reported proudly to his mother during the pilot, “I drank plain milk because it is healthier.”  German Amaya a Sherwood fifth grader usually drinks only chocolate milk at lunch.  Referring to the two pilot days where chocolate milk was unavailable Amaya said, “I like chocolate milk. I drank white milk because I was thirsty. If water was free I would drink that.”

Special thanks to: Spring Branch Independent School District Child Nutritional Services; Sherwood Principal, cafeteria and teaching staff, students and volunteers and Sherwood’s Healthy Lifestyles Committee for their efforts during the pilot.

Link to the Spring Branch ISD menu for elementary campuses.  

My Favorite Healthy Asian Recipes

Asian Pasta with Baby Bok Choy & Chicken

I'm a sucker for the flavors of Asia.  I love soy sauce, ginger and sesame.  I love cabbage.  I can't believe I lived over 30 years of my live never having baby bok choy. My early years could have been so much richer with this vegetable in my diet! Cabbage is one of the best vegetables and it's deeply entrenched in Asian cuisine.  I love cuisine that features a variety of vegetables in many tasty ways like Asian dishes do.  What dish isn't made better with snow peas, mushrooms or bean sprouts?  Let's not forget the carbs, rice noodles and dumplings are the best carbs in the world. 

Love the Cuisine Love the Ingredients
Asian cuisine was my gateway to unknown vegetables.  We ate plenty of vegetables from the farm as a kid, but my grandma didn't grow broccoli, snap peas, mushrooms or bean sprouts, so those were all new to me.  It was also my gateway to onions.  I still remember as a teenager when my parents took us to Chinese restaurant for the first time and I ate fried rice with broccoli in it.  My brother and I called them trees, and gobbled them up.  I was so enamored by the setting and uniqueness of the food my picky eater mindset was temporarily suspended.  I just ate the broccoli because it was so green, and pretty all mixed in with the tasty rice, eggs and other veggies. 

Asian cuisine may indeed be the only reason my mind eventually believed I could like onions.  If other veggies prepared according Asian cuisine tasted so good, onions could too. 

My problem?  My husband would never choose a Chinese restaurant. Since we stopped going out to eat frequently when the boys were born I had two options: live without Asian food, or learn to cook it myself.  I chose the latter. 

Here are some of the concoctions I've put together in my kitchen with an Asian flare.  Most utilize a combination of vegetables grown locally in around the Houston area and plus other organic and conventional produce.  I always serve brown rice and my new favorite ingredient is organic brown rice pasta.  I even use rice pasta for Italian cuisine. Hubby prefers the texture over whole wheat pasta. 
 
Healthy Asian Recipe Roundup



Cabbage and Pork Stir Fry







Lettuce Wraps








The Best Vegetable Fried Rice (Benihana Style)

Asian Pasta with Baby Bok Choy and Chicken

Asian Collard Greens








Kid Appeal Tip  If your child is partial to a type of cuisine, exploit it.  Add new ingredients or previously refused ingredients cooked in the style of  "XYZ."  When  they resist, remind them that they love Mexican flavors, and ask them to taste your concoction and decide if they like it or not.  The question isn't "do you like enchiladas more with spinach in them or without", but "do you like spinach better in an enchilada, sauteed, or in a salad with dressing."  The quest then is, how would you child prefer to eat spinach instead of "whether" they will eat it or not. 

I still want to explore more recipes with sea vegetables, and start making more Asian soups.  And, after last night's trip to my favorite Mediterranean restaurant I've vowed to try my hand at more of that cuisine at home.  I'm committed to finding a hummus recipe my kids like more than the Costco brand, and I'll master a great kefir tzatziki sauce and maybe even try my hand at home-made pita bread! 

This post is participating in LifeAsMom's my favorite recipe Ultimate Recipe Swap.

What's your favorite recipe?  Share a link in the comments. 

Asian Collard Greens - How I fell in love with leafy greens

Welcome to 2011, the year I fell in love with leafy greens.  My journey to love leafy greens started in 2008 when I joined a vegetable co-op and received a share of locally grown produce.  I had more kale than I could shake a stick at.  That whole winter was kale experimentation.  Nothing really stuck for me.  Hubby and I didn't like it in soup or pot-o-beans.  Sauteed with onions and garlic worked well for hubby, not so for me. I just couldn't love that chewy texture. Flavor was good, by why o why must it be so dang chewy. We tried all kinds of greens: mustard, collard, turnip, beet, plus many varieties of cabbage.  Beet greens were tasty, but rarely showed up in the share box.  Kale was a weekly staple. Sigh.  I only bought them, cooked them, and ate them because they are such a rich source of antioxidants, and minerals. 

Then came 2010, where I met Kathy of Happy Heart Farms.  I switched from co-op boxes to Wednesday farmer's market at Georgia's, mostly so I could skip kale and choose other vegetables!  I still tried kale on occasion, especially the non-curly varieties because I knew I needed to keep having a relationship with kale et al in order to eventually fall in love with them.  The kids weren't going to fall in love until I was convicted in my heart too. 

Then something happened where the only leafy green available one week was a flat leaf variety of kale,so I bought it. Instead of cooking it, I tore half the bunch raw and mixed it with other greens for a nice fresh salad.  It was delicious.  My first error with kale?  Cooking it.  My second error with kale?  Not adding it to stir fry sooner.  I chopped the other half thinly and added it to this pork and cabbage stir-fry recipe.  Two winner kale recipes in a week!  I'm starting to think thrice about Kathy's suggestion to use dinosaur kale to make "dinosaur toes" an ants on a log spin off, peanut butter rolled up in kale.  The idea repulsed me, and I always passed over kale in favor of salad greens or cabbage.  She might be on to something!

A couple of weeks later, still high from my stir fry Kale discovery I decided to sub collard greens for cabbage in the pork stir fry recipe.  It was amazing.  Best leafy greens I've ever had.  Big boo didn't even notice it was leafy green night, just gobble gobble.  Little boo has been cool to stir fry in the past year after an initial warm reaction to it, so when he didn't dig in to the green version of pork stir fry, I wasn't surprised. 

This week as a side dish to quiche I added sliced collard greens to some home-made chicken stock, with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.  They were good enough even the big boo ate them without complaining.  Shocker!  I prefer the collard greens with pork and onions and served over rice, but asian collard greens are very edible.

Asian Collard Greens
Recipe - ingredients
1 bunch collard greens, washed, stems removed, sliced thin
1 cup chicken stock
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 TBSP soy sauce (less if desired)

directions
Heat one cup of broth in a wide pan over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and ginger.  Add sliced collard greens and stir to coat with hot broth.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 6-8 minutes until greens are tender but still green, add soy sauce. 

Kid Appeal Tip Your kids will have a much easier time loving a food, if you love it too.  That's a challenge to you, mom and dad!  If there are things you want your kids to eat, but you haven't really developed a taste for, it's time for experimentation.  Look for new recipes, new cooking methods, new flavor combinations, and try the disliked item at restaurants.  Keep experimenting, even if it takes a while like it did for me with leafy greens.  It is possible to learn to like a food you're not keen on.  More than half of my current diet is dishes I've grown a taste for in the past 5 years.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday and Pennywise Platter

Confession time!  Am I the only one who was slow to love kale and other leafy greens?  What's your secret leafy greens recipe?  Please share your recipes links in the comments, I feel an exciting greens season coming on.

Valentine's Day Healthy Yogurt Banana Split Fruity Sundae Recipe

I love the community on the Food with Kid Appeal facebook page.  We share dinner ideas every night, and answer a daily "question of the day."   On occasion I ask my readers what they're serving for breakfast.  Tessa W shared her family's yogurt banana split sundae tradition.  I knew I had to share this idea on the blog, so I asked her to take photos and send in her recipe. 

Wouldn't this make a fun healthy valentines day breakfast?  Or a great alternative to the ever popular ice cream party at holidays?  It's got no artificial dyes, is lower in sugar than ice cream and has some probiotics, fiber and antioxidants to boot.  What kid would miss giant cupcakes and heart shaped pink cookies when they can top their own sundae with red fruit and chocolate chips? 

Yogurt Banana Split Fruity Sundae Recipe 
ingredients

Bananas
Yogurt (whole milk, plain sweetened with honey)
Granola
2-3 types of fruit of your choice (dry pack frozen, fresh, or canned in juice)
Mini Chocolate chips


directions
Split your banana a place banana halves in a bowl, scoop yogurt between banana slices and top with your fruits of choice. Sprinkle granola and chocolate chips on top and enjoy!


Thanks Tess for sharing your recipe and pictures! 

What are YOU cooking?
Do you have a recipe and photo you'd like to share with Kid Appeal readers?  Keep them coming!  Here are details for recipe and story submissions:

You don't have to be an award winning writer (believe me, mediocre writing skills in good company on this blog.....). You just have to have a recipe and/or wholesome food experience with your kids to share.

Here are some recipe guest post guidelines:
1) 750 word max
2) send a picture of the dish, ingredients, or your kids helping/eating (your own, or credit the source).
3) recipe should be contain real ingredients (doesn't have to be 100% from scratch, but please no uber-processed food substances!)
4) send article, recipe, photo(s), and a bio of you, to me via email jenna AT foodwithkidappeal DOT com. I will reply and let you know when your recipe will be published.
5) no deadline. This is an open invitation for kid appeal readers to share the recipes their families are making.

Healthy Valentines Day Recipe Double Chocolate Brownie with Natural Pink Frosting

I had a recipe flop for version one the coconut oil and cocoa butter chocolates I planned to publish as healthy recipe for valentine's day treats this year.  Looks like I may not get to version two before the weekend. I didn't want to leave you all hanging without something yummy and not too unhealthy to make for your loved ones this year.  I think of brownies as a lesser evil of baked goods.  Not as much flour as a cake or cookies Quality chocolate is less refined and retains more of it's high antioxidant load. Real butter instead of vegetable oil.  A dessert you don't have to feel too guilty about.  Oh, and vegetables in the frosting.  Tee hee hee.

I published this double chocolate brownie recipe with naturally colored vibrant pink frosting last year when the boys and hubby whipped these up for my birthday.

The deep magenta of roasted beets gives the cream cheese frosting a color perfect for the holiday of love.  They are super chocolaty, have a giant glass of milk handy when you dig into these.  Recipe for beet colored cream cheese frosting is here.

Hop over here to see the recipe for the brownies using two kinds of chocolate (use organic if you can find it), real butter and my secret ingredient.  Hint: something with a little heat.

More Healthy Valentines Day Treat Recipes
Apple Volcanoes  don't forget to look for dye free marshmallows in the natural food selection, who knew blue #1 was in the Kraft variety?
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries


Real Red Food Valentine's Day Party
Is your child's class having a valentine's day party? Check out this idea for a real red food valentines day party, see if your teacher will go for it.  It may be too late to set the wheels in motion this year, but it's never too early to think about how you can raise the food IQ of teachers, students and parents at your child's school.

Healthy Recipe Index 
If you haven't had a chance to check out the free healthy recipe index I compiled, take a look.  There are over 120 recipes.  Even I'd forgotten about some of the yumminess, like chocolate waffles and unstuffed mushrooms.  There are some new navigation buttons under the Food with Kid Appeal banner, one for recipe index, and one for school food reform.  Since I haven't held a class to the open public for over a year I changed the "register for class button" to "speaking engagements."   My community outreach is now focused on addressing parent groups with strategies for growing good eaters. 

This post is participating in LifeAsMom's Valentine's Day Treat Ultimate Recipe Swap.  If you're visiting from LifeAsMom, welcome!

Back to my healthy chocolates recipe flop.  I tried yoga instructor and foodie Kathryn Budig's recipe from her video.  Anyone (successfully) made chocolates from coconut oil, cocoa butter and raw cacao before?  Got a recipe I can try?  The ones I made taste ok, but they look terrible.  The mixture wouldn't combine and when they set they had a white coating on them (i forgot the technical term for it...)

Eat to Learn, Giving Kids A Chance to Like Unsweetened Cereal and Milk

there is too much corn syrup in school food

Dear Kid Appeal subscribers, thanks for reading all the school food articles.  I needed to post a few things about an upcoming pilot in SBISD that will give students a chance to adopt healthy eating habits.   I know you like recipes the best.  Stay tuned for a brainy valentines day treat.  I'm still testing the recipe, when I nail it and get some decent photos, I'll be sharing it. 

Tomorrow Sherwood Elementary students in Spring Branch ISD will enter a two week period where they won't see their favorite breakfast cereals on the menu.  Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes, and Raisin Bran Crunch will be off the menu, plain Cheerios will be on the menu.  Before the first breakfast pilot in December, only 5 % of cereal eaters chose Cheerios.  The pilot intends to increase consumption of lower sugar breakfast cereals like plain Cheerios.    Chocolate milk will be off the menu for six out of 10 lunch services.

Last week Sherwood students heard morning announcements about the benefits of nourishing their brain with low and no added sugar  as well as the detriments of eating too much sugar during the school day.

Here are those morning announcements, read by students and broadcast in each Sherwood classroom. Try these out with your kids at home to help them understand the importance of eliminating some of the added sugar in their daily diet.

Eliminate Sugar for a Better Brain at School, Eat to Learn morning announcements

Day 1

Knock Knock: 

Who’s There?

Sugar

Sugar who?

Shu Gur you want to feed your brain that sugar?

Sugar sure does taste good, but it is bad news for your brain.  When you eat or drink something with added sugar (like chocolate milk, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a granola bar, Capri Sun or fruit snacks) cells are triggered to suck the glucose out of your bloodstream and store it for later use.  When glucose is in storage it is not able to power your brain.  Your brain needs carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits and grains to get power.  Do your brain a favor, skip the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and chocolate milk.  Power your brain with a bowl of plain cheerios for breakfast, and drink white milk at lunch.

Knock Knock hint: “Shu gur” is a play on the sounds in the words “You sure?”

Day 2

Rapid blood sugar increases damage the memory center of your brain.  When you eat cinnamon toast crunch, drink chocolate milk or gobble a package of fruit snacks you make it hard for your brain to remember the things you learn in class.

Day 3

Sugar makes it hard for growth between neurons in your brain to occur.  Your brain can actually shrink, or get smaller, when neuron growth is frequently low.   A shrinking brain?  No thanks!! I think I’ll skip the chocolate milk next time I see it in the cafeteria line.

 

Day 4

There are three kinds of fruit in the cafeteria line.  Fresh fruit, sliced fruit in syrup and fruit juice.  Using your Eat to Learn facts, guess which one of the fruit types is best for your brain?  Tune in on  Friday for the answer.

Day 5

Yesterday I asked you if fresh fruit, sliced fruit in syrup or fruit juice was best you’re your brain.  Raise your hand if you think fruit juice is best for your brain. (wait.)  Raise your hand if you think fresh fruit is best for your brain. (wait).  Raise your hand if you think sliced fruit with syrup is best for your brain.  (wait).  

If you raised your hand for fresh fruit you are right.  Your brain likes fresh fruit best because it has no sugar in it like syrupy fruit.  100% fruit juice has no sugar, but it also lacks fiber.  When you drink fiber-less juice the fructose is metabolized just like sugar, which is bad news for your brain.  Remember the rule: Chew your fruit! 

Monday is the beginning of Brainy Breakfasts and Learning Lunch at Sherwood.  Ms Noble, your teachers and your parents would like each of you to give plain cheerios and plain white milk a taste-test. They are not sweet with sugar like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes or Chocolate Milk.  If you choose a banana and eat bites of banana with bites of cheerios, you give your brain healthy sugar from whole fruit.  Whole grain oats, and bananas, hold the sugar, makes a Brainy Breakfast.  Will you try Cheerios and plain milk to fuel your brain next week?

Kid Appeal Tip  Have your child make a list of the items they regularly eat for breakfast, lunch, snack and dessert.  Read labels looking for the following items:  Then ask them if they think they eat too much added sugar for their brain to function at peak performance. Challenge them to find one or two sweet items they could live without.  Think of some naturally sweet snacks your child could enjoy instead.  Fresh and dried, unsweetened fruit are good substitutes (read labels on dried fruit, some have added sugar. Agree on a one week swap  Then regroup and see if the habit sticks. See if your child's behavior or weekly grades at school improve.  If not, consider testing the swap for a longer period.  If so, replace another 1-2 sweetened things with natural choices. 

Myth :  Kids Don't Care about Eating Healthy
You may be skeptical, but trust me, young kids do care about feeding their brain better.  Start teaching your child today to think about what's in the food they eat when they're young, and in time they will learn good eating habits.  They'll leave the nest one day, and you'll no longer be there to buy the right groceries for them.  Teach them how to shop and cook to nourish their brain.

Limiting Availability of Chocolate Milk, Bold Move by Houston school

71% of the milk sold nationwide

 is flavored

Next week at Sherwood Elementary our fearless Child Nutritional Services Director is stepping out on a limb and taking chocolate milk off the lunch line for six lunch services in a two-week pilot period.  I'm expecting CNS will get some inquiries from parents concerned about their children not having access to calcium, protein and Vitamin D in milk.   Some kids just won't drink white milk. Others prefer the sweet taste of chocolate milk.  Many haven't tried white milk in years.  The vast majority of students at our Spring Branch ISD campus choose chocolate milk.

The Truth about Sugar
The biggest problem with flavored milk?  Added sugar.  With new studies linking excessive consumption of added sugar to food and especially beverages to metabolic syndrome, obesity, heart disease and obesity it's time school districts put student health above student preferences.  I'm proud to say, SBISD is taking this chance.

Don't believe me when I mention a link between school lunches and increased risk for obesity?  This NY Times article about a study of one thousand sixth graders makes this same link. (Thanks to Bettina at The Lunch Tray for the tip-off).

Is milk a necessary nutrient 
Chocolate milk contains nutrients, that's true.  But it also contains sugar, an anti-nutrient. If a child is not drinking milk then dietary needs for calcium and protein need to be sought elsewhere.  Vitamin D is best obtained from sunlight exposure versus the diet.  Milk is not a necessary nutrient.  The reason Americans think it is? The Dairy Council's Got Milk and Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk campaign's reinforce a parent's concern that without milk their children won't get the calcium they need to build strong bones.  One million dollars was spent on the Raise Your Hand campaign.  I doubt the "leafy green council" has budgets large enough to educate parents on the nutrition benefits and palatability of dark green calcium containing vegetables.  As of 2005 the National Dairy Board and National Fluid Milk Board have spend 1.1 billion dollars on advertising diary products as essential nutrients.  Associations, boards and councils that represent vegetable growers don't have that kind of budget.

In this guest post for Cathy writer of the blog A Life Less Sweet, I remind parents that calcium is available in other food sources.  When parents, in fear of vitamin and mineral deficiencies for kids, offer "dessertified" essential nutrients, palates are trained to prefer sweetened foods. An opportunity to for kids to develop a taste for savory or unsweetened nutrient dense foods like plain milk, vegetables and unrefined whole grains is missed. We teach kids that if a food has a necessary nutrient in it, daily consumption of sugar is "healthy".  Flavored yogurts and flavored whole-grain breakfast cereals all fall in this category.  This could set kids up for a life long struggle with weight maintenance. For some kids the outcome is much worse.  Severe health conditions like obesity, diabetes and heart disease result from this childhood habit of over-consumption of sweetened beverages. 

Why aren't there more limits on junky food in schools?
Some food is distracting to the learning process.  For example when a child decides to take the school lunch, buy 1-2 extra chocolate milks and add an a la carte cookie or two to that.  He then guzzles milks, munches cookies, skips the hot food, fruit and vegetable sides and returns to class.  From my observations, many of the youngest students eat very little of their food, drinking only juice for breakfast and chocolate milk for lunch.  Those students are not set up for success in the classroom.

Sadly, most public school cafeterias have no way to prevent that type of lunch from being consumed by students. The current mind-set is "healthy foods are available in the cafeteria, and students need to learn to choose healthy options."  That mind-set was captured here in a Times article covering response to the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.

"Principal Means thinks kids about to enter the real world need to learn how to make choices on their own — without the government breathing down their gullet."

I don't think offering students nourishing lunches that support academic success an example of  nanny state or as Principal Means put it, the government breathing down a child's gullet.  Principals utilize dress codes, unexcused absence policies, discipline policies and academic benchmarks to enable kids to succeed at school.  Why not limit the amount of junk in the carnival type food common many school food programs and classroom parties as an effort to support academic success?

Parents don't let students choose their bedtimes.  Teachers don't let students choose how they will learn math, via computer games or instructor led lessons. Teachers may provide access to math computer games, but that access is limited.  Instructor led lessons are prioritized.   Administrators don't let kids choose what to wear, most schools enforce a dress code of some sort, knowing that some attire is distracting to the learning process.

Is the problem that most school board officials and administrators don't recognize the link between diet and academic performance?  Don't principals want more students who are able to focus on school work thus scoring better on standards tests?  Would more districts commit to making speedier more meaningful menu reform if the mindset were instead, a nourished brain is a learning brain?

Setting students up for failure
I'm all for teaching kids to make healthy choices, but we set them up for failure when they are distracted by flavored milk and a la cart items.  Nutrition education is essential to help kids make good choices. Education alone won't yield kids who are capable of making the right choices among so many unfavorable ones.  Should we really expect students who are still developing decision making skills and learning responsibility to make the right choices in the cafeteria line?

Participation is King
Removing chocolate milk from the menu has health benefits, but budget detriments.  Some studies have shown that milk consumption decreases when flavored milks are removed from the menu.  Others show that when items preferred by students disappear from the lunch line, students stop buying and bring a lunch from home. Decreased participation in the lunch program equates to decreased revenue which makes an already strapped budget even tighter.  Without an increase in participation, thus more revenue, some of the most meaningful menu changes such as sourcing more whole ingredient, additive-free products, increasing the availability of palatable fresh vegetables, and adding more scratch-made menu items can not be undertaken.


Call out to SBISD parents, staff and community
If you are a parent in SBISD and have an opinion about the removal or decreased availability of chocolate milk from the school lunch menu,  please leave a comment on this blog post (identifying yourself as an SBISD parent).  You may comment anonymously.  Then take a moment to forward to the URL to other SBISD parents, staff and community members asking them to weigh in on the no chocolate milk pilot.

If CNS knows the SBISD community has their back as they seriously consider implementing reduced offerings or elimination of flavored milk district wide, I'm confident they will find out-of-the-box solutions to address revenue shortfalls as a result of this menu improvement.

What do you think?  Is it time students have a chance to develop a taste for unsweetened and low sugar foods and a better chance at success in the classroom?

This post is participating in Fight Back Friday.

Healthy Superbowl Recipes

Sausage, potato, green bean, onion one pan meal

Your superbowl party doesn't have to be about a bowl of corn chip and a crock pot full of fake cheese sauce (have you looked at the ingredient list of Velveeta recently - what is that stuff?).  I know, I know, it tastes good, you argue.  I'm not saying it doesn't taste good, I'm just saying it's fake food. 

Here are some snacks that appeal to kid, mom and even man taste buds.  Each one packs a nutritional punch giving your family and guests a chance to eat some real food at your superbowl party.

I'm not usually a fan on mindless eating in front of the TV, but I've noticed at our family TV nights that my kids will often nibble raw veggies and tasty dips without even realizing how much they are tucking away.  They are captivated, and hungry, so they dig in.  Hope yours do too.

Veggie Snacks and Salads


 Oven Fries

Twigs in a Blanket Courtesy of Amy at Super Healthy Kids




Blanched Green Beans this crunchy sweet finger food is bound to make your child fall in love with green beans.  Works great with ranch dip or avocado chevre dip (listed below.)  My kids love the curly tails.  We never have any left over.

 
French Rice Salad with Avocado and Corn  

 
Unstuffed Mushrooms

Sweet Potato Chips

  
Savory Snacks

Spicy Stove Top Popcorn 


Avocado and Chevre Dip this goes perfectly with fresh cut raw veggies, which taste infinitely better than pre-packaged vegetable trays.  Do your guests a favor and cut up some carrots, cukes and celery the day of the party.  You'd be surprised how fast the veggies disappear when they haven't had a rinse in a chlorine bath and sat out cut ends exposed for a few days before the nibbling begins.  Sure, it takes some time, but isn't it worth the effort if the vegetables actually go down the hatch?

Taco Seasoning  (add this to sour cream for a chip or veggie dip, the benefits of mixing your own spices from your pantry rack, no MSG, no weird chemical additives.)


Main Meals

 
Healthy Crockpot Chili For Crowd 


Sausage and Green Bean One Pan Meal  



Chicken and Vegetable Lettuce Wraps 

Sweet Snacks

Chocolate Covered Fruit and Nut Balls (aka flourless, no bake cookie)

 
Apple Volcanoes  



Thanks for visiting Food with Kid Appeal.   Hop on over here to the recipe index for more healthy kid friendly recipes that will guide you to growing good eaters.  Most recipes include a Kid Appeal Tip giving you an action plan to help the recipe go down the hatch.

Enjoy your Superbowl party and stay warm.

This post is participating in LifeAsMom's Ultimate Recipe Swap.

Recipe Index

asian pasta with bok choy and chicken

 At long last. After 317 posts and over 2 years of blogging I am finally getting to the "recipe index" I've had on my to-do list since November 2008.  Um, very sheepishly I say, better late than never?  Hopefully this will make it easier for you to find your favorite Food with Kid Appeal recipes.

If you're new, welcome to Food with Kid Appeal, your guide to growing good eaters.  On this recipe index you'll find free recipes to nourish your family.  My recipes use primarily whole food and real ingredients.  I don't like eating factory made chemicals, so I avoid packets and meal helpers.  It's taken a while to figure out how to make cream of mushroom soup and taco spice mix, but I've nailed down most of the "kitchen helpers." I used to rely on.  I love veggies so be prepared for a good helping of  vegetable recipes.

On most recipes you'll find a Kid Appeal Tip, a strategy or technique you can use to help your kids fall in love with wholesome nourishing food, including vegetables.  For more on what kind of meat, eggs, dairy, produce, grains and oils I buy, check out this post (link coming soon).

How to find recipes on Food with Kid Appeal
I will periodically update this index to include new recipes I'm sharing with readers.  To be sure you don't miss a thing, you can subscribe via email (see that orange icon on the right?  click it and fill in your email address).  Also check the blog archive for recent recipes on the blog home page, you'll find it about half way down the right side navigation bar.  This index was last updated in January 2011.


Breakfast Recipes
Soaked Whole Grain Pancakes 
7 Minute Stove Top Soaked Steel Cut Oatmeal
Whole Grain Waffles - Best Ever 
Egg Toast (aka Toad in a Hole) 
Blueberry Sauce (Pancake - Waffle Topper) 
Apples and Oatmeal
Frugal French Toast 
Whole Grain Banana Bread 
Summer Squash and Ham Egg Scramble 
The Best Whole Grain Pancakes 
Key Lime French Toast 
Peaches and Oatmeal 
Acorn Squash Chocolate Chip Muffins 
Whole Orange Whole Grain Quinoa Muffins 
Quinoa Cereal 
Canadian Bacon and Leek Quiche with Potato Crust


Lunch Recipes
Chicken Salad Cabbage Wraps 
 Blueberry Yogurt  Parfait w/ Honey
Cottage Cheese and Pears, naturally sugar free 
Peach Yogurt Parfait 
Lunchbox Yogurt Parfait  my seven year old insists on this almost daily for school lunch.



Dinner Entree Recipes
Chicken and Vegetable Lettuce Wraps 
Soft Tacos with Local Greens, Shredded Cheese, Avocado Toppers
Pork Chops with Pomegranate Stuffing
Homemade Whole Grain Breaded Chicken Nuggets 
Kale with Beans and Bacon
Oven Crispy Chicken
Crockpot Chicken Quinoa
Purple Cabbage and Carrot Slaw 
Healthy Crockpot Chili For Crowd 
Green Macaroni and Cheese  (perfect for St. Patrick's Day)
Sausage and Green Bean One Pan Meal
Turkey-Rosemary Meatballs in White Whole Wheat Pitas
Fish Tacos with Cabbage and Fish Taco Sauce
Red Beans in the Crockpot (Meatless meal)
Pasta With Chicken, Chevre, Mushrooms and Spinach (aka Goat Cheese) 
Minestrone Soup (using left over vegetable tray)
Kholrabi Greens, Mushrooms, Chevre Pizza 
Healthy Kid's Birthday Party Menu
Meatballs with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Ham Bone Split Pea Soup
Vegetable Fried Rice
Purple Cabbage and Pork Stir Fry
Asian Pasta with Bok Choy and Chicken  (pictured above)




Dinner Sides and Vegetable Recipes
Black Bean Salad with Corn and Tomatoes
Pomegranate Pesto Pasta Salad  
Cranberry Orange Sauce 
Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread 
Quinoa with Stir Fry Veggies
Sauteed Kale With Onions
Pesto Crostini 
Healthy French Fries (aka Oven Fries) 
Grilled Asparagus - Camping Vegetables
French Rice Salad with Avocado and Corn  
Peas and Onions 
Poached Egg with Rocket Salad (aka Arugula) - hubby kisses me when i make this.
Mediterranean Bean, Herb Salad
Tomatillo and Summer Vegetable Rice Salad
Red White and Blue Fruit Salad in Watermelon Boat
Heirloom Tomato Salad 
Fried Okra (cornmeal coating) 
Black Beans and Rice
Honey Gingered Carrots
Candied Acorn Squash 
 
Wilted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries 
Mushroom Rice Pilaf 
Crunchy Garlicky Green Beans 
Paneer
Sweet Potato Chips 
Chickpea Salad with Tomatoes and Corn

Unstuffed Mushrooms 
Red Cauliflower with Lemon
Herbed Potatoes on the Grill 
Steamed Okra 
Fiesta Carrot Salad 
Marinated Baby Beets
Rainbow French Fries




Recipes for Meal Helpers
Oregano Pesto
Spinach Basil Pesto
Frugal Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs 
Vegetable Bouillon (most amazing soup trick ever)
Taco Seasoning
Whole Orange Puree
Making Vegetable and Chicken Stock from Vegetable Scraps
Meats and Greens Spaghetti Sauce  
Scratch Made Cream of Mushroom Soup (just like la madeleines)

Scratch Made Enchilada Sauce
Sprouted Grain Bread




Healthy Snack Recipes
Chocolate Covered Fruit and Nut Balls (aka flourless, no bake cookie)
Frozen Fruit
Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Homemade Ranch Dressing 
Shelled Nuts 
Edamamme 
Stove Top Popcorn 
Banansicles (horrible photos, tasty snack) 
Healthy Snacks You Can Take on a Hike or Road Trip
Ants on a Log (aka peanut butter on celery with Raisins)
Trail Mix
Blanched Green Beans 
Hard Boiled Eggs with Butter and Salt 
Persimmons out of hand (the pearish tasting bright orange apple) 
Pomegranates out of hand (try one whole, far better than the juice)
Chocolate Fruity Granola Bites
Avocado and Chevre Dip




Healthy Dessert Recipes (most of them anyway)
Peppermint Shortbread Christmas Cookies (christmas)
Tangerine Pineapple Popsicles
Double Ginger Snaps
Hand-dipped Chocolate Dipped Strawberries 
Whole Grain Strawberry Shortcake  
Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting 
Whole Grain Carrot Cake 
Whole Grain Rhubarb Crisp 
Cherry Split Cake - (no bake, no artificial dyes, no preservatives) 
Chocolate Waffles (forgot about these, really want to make them NOW!)
Whole Orange Cake with Fudge Icing 
Raspberry Sand Tarts (christmas)
Nutmeg Logs (christmas)
Apple Volcanoes 
Double Chocolate Brownies with Beet Pink Frosting 
Coconut Cookies

  

Healthy Drink Recipes

Watermelon Mint Juice  
Tangerine Ice Cubes 
Strawberry Mimosa  (if I drink strawberry puree with my dry champagne, that's healthy right?  skip the champagne for kids, opt for club soda)


Please notify me by leaving a comment if one of the recipe links is broken, or pointed to the wrong page.  Report back if you try a recipe, I love to know what readers think of recipes.  Enjoy your food!